A chemical compound (NH₂CN) used primarily as a fertilizer and in pesticide manufacture, an important industrial chemical.
From cyan- (cyanogen) + -amide (a functional group NH₂). The term became standardized in the early 1900s when cyanamide was first synthesized on an industrial scale.
Cyanamid revolutionized agriculture because it was one of the first synthetic nitrogen fertilizers—before this, farmers relied almost entirely on guano (bird poop) and manure, which meant feeding the world's growing population would have been impossible without this one compound.
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